Subject: UN Tells Indonesia To Crack down On Militias

Associated Press July 25, 2000

UN Tells Indonesia To Crack down On Militias

UNITED NATIONS (AP)--The U.N. Security Council urged the Indonesian military on Tuesday to crack down on extremist militias accused of killing a New Zealand peacekeeper in East Timor.

The council urged the military to cooperate with U.N. forces "to end incursions from West Timor, to disarm and disband the militias, and to prosecute militia members guilty of crimes," said Patricia Durant, the council president and Jamaica's ambassador.

The U.N. peacekeeper was shot in the head Monday during a clash with armed opponents of East Timor independence, becoming the first U.N peacekeeper to be killed in the territory.

The soldier, identified as Leonard William Manning, 24, a private of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, was on a patrol searching for a group of armed men who had reportedly crossed the border from Indonesian-ruled West Timor.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke gave his condolences and said Manning's death "reminds us of the risks of peacekeeping."

The council members also expressed their sympathy.

Militia members last year went on a spree of burning and terror after most East Timorese voted in a U.N-backed referendum for independence from a quarter-century of Indonesian rule.


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